Tax Day Protests in the U.S.

Yesterday was Tax Day in the United States,
and all across the country people were scrambling to get to the post office in
time to have their tax returns postmarked by the deadline. There to meet them
were tax resisters:

The Ryder Report has video of the
Tax Day protest in
Keene,
New Hampshire, including feedback from passers-by.

In Brattleboro,
Vermont,
war tax resisters including Bob Bady and Daniel Sicken redirected their
taxes to local charities:

Kevin Flaherty, a postal employee who ducked out in the afternoon for a
smoke break, said it was encouraging to see the war tax resisters give
away their money.

“It’s great,” he said, pointing out that it was Kevin Flaherty the
citizen — not Kevin Flaherty the postal worker — who was supporting the
group.

“Sometimes when people are paying their taxes, I joke that somebody has
to pay for the Iraq War. Maybe this will make them pay attention.”

Tax resisters in New York City handed out War Resisters League budget pie charts at the
midtown post office.

Joshua Klein of
Nashua, New Hampshire
filed his tax returns yesterday, but
decided to include a protest letter instead of a check. “Klein would not
reveal how much he owed but said he’s donating the money to America’s
Second Harvest, the largest domestic hunger-relief organization in the
country, and the American Civil Liberties Union, although he’s not
affiliated with either group.”

In Los Alamos, New Mexico, two protesters were arrested for
trespassing during a vigil at the Los Alamos National Laboratories. The
protesters said they were there “to prayerfully encourage the nonviolent,
safe, clean disarmament of weapons of mass destruction, along with the
clean-up of LANL… [and] to visibly celebrate the war-tax
boycott organized by the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating
Committee.”

War tax resisters in Bangor, Maine, including Larry Dansinger,
protested at the post office and gave away redirected taxes. One of the
grants was a scholarship to a student who, because he has refused to
register with the selective service system (for the military draft), will
be ineligible to apply for college financial aid.

The Home News Tribune of New Jersey
has a video report of the war tax protest at the post office there.

In Portsmouth, New Hampshire,
peace activists held a “penny poll” in which they asked passers-by how
they would prioritize the nation’s budget. Meanwhile, constitutionalist
tax protesters handed out documentaries and documentation about their
theories.

Free Speech Radio News covered national protests over war
taxes, government spending priorities, and the Capitol Hill press
conference.

Along with the news coverage, bloggers commemorated
Tax Day with more personal commentary:

At The Begging Bowl, Jake writes about his tax resistance:
“The money I would have paid the government has gone to the Chicago
Anti-Hunger Foundation. When votes no longer matter we vote with our
dollars. I vote for the works of mercy and feeding the hungry. And if it
means the
IRS
is gonna come knocking on my door for $119, I will offer them some food
too. And if they ask for a check, I’ll go with them to jail. That’s
another work of mercy, visit the imprisoned. If we took the works of mercy
as seriously as we took our 1040s and economic stimulus package, the
Kingdom of God would be at hand.”

J.D. Tuccille, at Disloyal Opposition, gives
a thumbs up for tax resisters — “whatever their reasons,
I think it’s worth saluting folks who go out of the way to avoiding
feeding the beast.”

Kerrie, at State & Local Politics, reacts to news coverage of the Schwieberts:
“It takes a whole lot of nerve to do what his couple is doing. But I
wonder if Bush would take notice and stop the war if more people took
this route to protest the war? I know that we have to do something
because things are getting worse not better.”

Will Shetterly, at It’s All One Thing,
discusses tax resistance, and includes some inspirational quotes from tax
resisters.

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